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Feature Service Articles

Latest Feature Service Article

Through associations, businesswomen can come
together to address the social and economic challenges
faced by female entrepreneurs.

Developing a successful National Businesswomen’s
Agenda requires that associations conduct thorough
research to identify social, economic, and cultural
hindrances faced by women in the private sector. Sound
research will boster associations’ advocacy.

Dialogue about women’s empowerment must engage
male stakeholders. Involving men in conversations
about women’s participation in the economy helps
policymakers of both genders understand the importance
of the legislative solutions being proposed, while also
encouraging the challenge of social norms.

Previous Articles

The Center for International Private Enterprise’s (CIPE) unique approach to effecting institutional change involves partnering with members of the business community in developing countries to help them become advocates for democratic and market-oriented reform. CIPE Executive Director John D. Sullivan, Ph.D testified before the Canadian Parliament on February 13, 2012 at the invitation of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development of the House of Commons.

“The challenges to reduction of poverty are many, but at the core addressing them comes down to the need for policy reforms that expand access to opportunity and instill confidence in public and market institutions,” Sullivan said. “Consequently, the role of the private sector in international development cannot be understood solely as the actions and contributions by individual companies from industrialized nations such as Canada. Rather, that role extends to engaging the local private sector in institutional reforms that help create a level playing field for all businesses in their countries, both domestic and foreign.”

The wave of think tank proliferation across the globe since the 1970s has paralleled and enhanced democratic development. In young democracies and transitional economies, think tanks (also known as policy research institutes) have played vital roles in raising the quality of policymaking. These institutes bring new ideas to the attention of policymakers and the public, and new perspectives on policy formulation.

Armed with the information that think tanks provide, policymakers can make better decisions, civil society can advocate for citizens’ interests, and the public can participate more effectively in the policy process. Each becomes less dependent on existing sources of information and better equipped to make policy choices based on evidence.

The debate on the best strategies to generate economic growth remains as relevant as ever, especially when it comes to the nature of political systems worldwide. What we have learned over the years is that to sustain inclusive economic growth over extended periods of time, it is essential that countries look more closely at the importance of democratizing reform and governance processes. In other words, democracy plays a key role in a country’s socio-economic development and economic reform is inseparable from the surrounding political climate.

In April 2009, flawed elections in Moldova triggered the so-called “Twitter revolution,” a wave of public protests made up primarily of young people that put Moldova in the global spotlight. As in the recent uprisings across the Middle East, the sources of Moldova’s widespread discontent were both political and economic in nature. Young people were shocked by the results of the election and suspected fraud since not many of them had voted for the winning Communist Party. Additionally, they were dissatisfied with Moldova’s economic development.

When addressing corruption and transparency, international development organizations and projects tend to view civil society organizations as passive participants who advocate for action by government agencies but take no direct responsibility for reforming corrupt systems themselves. However, according to Alina Mungiu- Pippidi, professor of Democracy Studies at the National School of Administration and Political Science of Bucharest, “To date few successes have resulted from this investment [in anti-corruption projects]. Few anticorruption campaigns dare to attack the roots of corruption the distribution of power itself. Instead, anticorruption strategies are adopted and implemented in cooperation with the very predators who control the government and, in some cases, the anticorruption instruments themselves.”

Call for Items

CIPE welcomes articles submitted by readers. Most articles run between 3-7 pages (1000-3000 words), but all submissions relevant to CIPE's mission of building accountable, democratic institutions through market-oriented reform will be considered based on merit. Economic Reform Feature Service articles are primarily geared toward an international, non-academic community of businesspeople, economic reformers, and policy-makers. Specific policy recommendations and articles based on direct experience are encouraged. In addition to articles, we are willing to adapt suitable lectures, speeches, research notes, and academic papers.